Oil bath rotary



March 10, 1942- s. c. FIETINGHOFF ETAL 2,

OIL BATH ROTARY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 11, 1940 f 5% w %w a W W 4 5N Je 51% s 00 .EGE $0 Elfi fl Patented. Mar. 10, 1942 I UNITED STATES" PATENT o FFICE OIL BATH ROTARY Sergius C. Fietlnghofl, R. Maier, Dallas,

Los Angeles, Calif., August Tex., and Cyril F. Van

Loozen, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors to Oil Well Supply Company, a corporation of New Jersey Claims.

This invention relates to improved lubricating means for a rotary of the type used for drilling vertical holes in the surface of the earth. While not limited thereto, the present invention'is particularly directed to features of improvement over the type of rotary shown in the patent granted to August R. Maier, No. 2,073,559, dated March 9, 1937.

It is old in the art, as exemplified by said Maier patent, to utilize centrifugal force of the rotat ing members to elevate oil and throw it over the edge of the retaining wall, In the type of rotary exemplified by the Maier patent, oil is normally picked up by dipping the teeth of the pinion shaft in an oil reservoir formed in the stationary portion of the housing. This lubricant is carried upward into contact with the teeth on the underside of the rotating table, from which it flows downwardly over the antifriction bearing. Part of the lubricant flows from this bearing back directly into the oil reservoir and part is directed downwardly over the hold-down bearing which has to be returned to the oil reservoir in some manner. It is to the means for returning the oil collected in the sump of the rotating members to the reservoir in the stationary member that the present invention is directed.

It has been found that when a rotary such as that shown in the Maier patent operates at certain speeds, oil is lost by escaping between the rotating and stationary members instead of returning to the reservoir. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide means for effecting a more positive return of oil to the reservoir.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for protecting the oil from contamination as a result of a blowout from beneath the rotary.

A further object is to provide means to prevent the accidental dropping away of the annular ring attached to the bottom of the rotating member. For a full and complete understanding of the invention, reference is to be made to the accompanying drawings, the following detailed disclosure, and the appended claims;

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a rotary embodying the present invention;

Figure2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof taken on line II-II of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of the parts shown in Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the invention is illustrated by way of example, as applied to a rotary having a base l0 and a table II rotatably supported on the base by means of antifriction bearings l2. The base Ill has an upstanding outer wall I3 extending upwardly to the under face of the table Hand an inner wall l4 upon which the bearing I2 is supported and ber 34. Likewise, a washer or oil seal forms between the inner and outer walls an annular oil channel or lubricating reservoir IS. The inner wall l4 also has a depending flange l6 carrying a hold-down bearing J1 through which there extends downwardly from the table II an inner collar l8. The upper base of the table II extends outwardly to the upper edge of the wall l3 and slidably joins the latter in an inner locking seal l9 to prevent the in-flow of water or mud. This seal is further protected by a'rotary guard 20 mounted on the wall l3. The table II carries a master bushing 22 or spiders 2| and 23 which serve to grip and hold a drill pipe extending downwardly therethrough.

An extension 24 extends from the outer wall l3 in which is mounted a shaft 26 which is driven from an external source through a sprocket 21 mounted on the shaft 26. A bevel gear 29 is keyed on the end of the shaft 26 extending within the wall l3. This gear 29 dips into the 'lubricant carried in reservoir l5 and engages with an annular bevel gear 30 mounted on the lower surface of the table so that lubricant from the lower reservoir I5 is carried up into contact with the teeth on table II. This lubricant drips downwardly into bearing l2 and ultimately is re turned to reservoir l5.

It will be understood that the above construction is of a typical rotary and that this invention may be applied to rotaries deviating from the above'in details of construction.

In the apparatus embodying the present invention, a portion of the lubricant passes downwardly through the frictional bearing l2 and then into a hold-down bearing H, from which it passes between the hold-down bearing I1 and collar l8 where it is gathered in a sump from which it is returned to the reservoir l5. This sump is formed below the hold-down bearing I! by means of an annular ring 3| secured to the bottom edge of the collar I8 by means of screws 32 and has an upwardly extending wall, encircling the depending flange l6 of the base Ill. An annular trough member 34 is removably attached to the base l0 by means of bolts 36 in cooperative relationship with the annular ring 3|, so that any oil flowing over the top of the flange 33 of the sump falls into said trough member 34,

from which it passes through passageway 35 cored in the wall of the base ID to the oil reservoir l5. This passageway is of sufficient depth that the oil in reservoir l5 passes therethrough at all times in order that it will be practically impossible to stop the return of fluid to the reservoir l5. Since the annular trough is removably attached-to the base [0, a drain (not shown) can be used to remove the oil before removing mem- 31 could be conveniently placed about bolt 36 in order to prevent any loss of oil.

In the prior art oil was forced by centrifugal action over the top of member 33 where it was caught by trough 34 as shown in Maier Patent No. 2,073,559. At slow speeds of the Maier rotary, oil was found to leak out between these two members, as they did not overlap or overhang due to the method of assembly which made it impossible. Likewise, if the sump over-flowed, which is likely to occur on stopping of the rotary or for other reasons, oil was caused to escape between these two members. Furthermore, if the passageway 35 became clogged, oil was forced out of the member 34 between the two members 34 and 35. Occasionally a blowout occurred which forced foreign matter up-between the ends of the flange and the bottom of the base of the Maier apparatus, fouling the oil in the reservoir l5.

In the apparatus of the present invention, an overhanging lip 40 is formed at the upper edge of upstanding wall 33 of the ring member 3|, which overlies a cooperating under-lip 4| located in the upper portion of the trough member 34 above the oil level of the oil reservoir Hi. This construction and arrangement forms an oil breather which is effective to prevent a vapor lock from forming and to prevent the return of the lubricant to the reservoir l5. With this type of lip construction, oil is prevented from flowing out between members 33, 34 when member 33 is rotating, even at relatively low speeds,- and also when member 33 is stationary. Member 34 is also in cooperative relationship with the under side of member 33, as shown by extending section 42 of member 34. As thus constructed and arranged, member 33 is prevented from dropping down due to an accident caused by the failure of bolts 36, in which event member 34 serves as a guard, and thus functions as a safety device.

'Member 34-also prevents the dropping of member 3! when making repairs which require the removal of the ring portion of the rotating member. As an additional safety precaution in the event of a blowout, a labyrinth form of seal is provided, as shown, between the stationary member 34 and the rotating member 3|.

Thus, in returning the oil gathered in the sump of the rotating member to the reservoir in the stationary member, two members, 3| and 34, are provided for preventing the leakage of any oil, that not only assure positive return of the oil at both low rotative speeds and even when stationary, but also assist in preventing contamination of the oil by foreign substances forced against the under side of the rotary such as occurs in the event of a blowout.

While we have described quite precisely the characteristics of the particular embodiment of our invention herein illustrated, it is to be understood that various modifications may be made without departure from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a rotary, a lubricant reservoir in said rotary, means in the rotatable member for receiving oil, and a stationary member removably attached to said rotary in cooperative relationship with said rotatable ,member for returning oil from said receiving means to said reservoir, said members having coacting sealing means thereon preventing ingress of foreign substances between said members.

2. A rotary comprising a rotating table having a downwardly depending sleeve, 9. bearing about said sleeve,alubricant reservoir in the base of said rotary,gearing for driving said table and carrying lubricant from said reservoir into said bearing, a sump carried by said sleevev to receive said lubricant passing through said bearing, the sump having an upper overhanging lip above the liquid level in said reservoir over which lubricant may pass in returning to said reservoir, and a member removably attached to the base of said rotary and having an upright portion disposed immediately beneath said overhanging lip for returning the lubricant passing over said overhanging lip, said member having a portion thereof. extending beneath the sump.

3. A rotary comprising a rotating table having a downwardly depending sleeve, a lubricant reservoir formed in the base of said rotary, an annular ring attached to said sleeve forming a sump for receiving lubricant having an upper overhanging lip edge above the liquid level in said reservoir, and an annular member attached to the base of said rotary for returning lubricant passing over the lip of the sump having one lip underlying the overhanging lip and a second lip in cooperative relation with the under side of said annular ring for retarding the passage of foreign matter therebetween which is thrust against the bottom side of the rotary.

4. A rotary including a rotatable table, a stationary base having a lubricant reservoir therein, a hold-down bearing for the table, means supplying lubricant to said bearing, and means between said bearing and reservoir for effecting a flow of lubricant from the bearing to the reservoir, including an outer annular member secured to the base adjacent the reservoir, an inner annular member secured to the table adjacent the hold-down bearing and providing a lubricant sump for receiving lubricant from said bearing, the inner member having a terminal lip outwardly overhanging the outer member for centrifugal discharge of lubricant from the sump over said outer member to the reservoir, said inner and outer members having annular coacting sealing portions disposed below and preven ing the ingress of foreign matter between said members.

5. A rotary including a rotatable table, a stationary base having a lubricant reservoir therein, a hold-down bearing for the table, means supplying lubricant to said bearing, and means between said bearing and reservoir for effecting a flow of lubricant from the bearing to the reservoir, including an outer annular member removably secured to the base adjacent the reservoir, an inner annular member removably secured to the table adjacent the hold-down bearing and providing a lubricant sump for receiving lubricant from said bearing, the inner member having a terminal lip outwardly overhanging the outer member for centrifugal discharge of lubricant from the sump over said outer member to the reservoir, said inner and outer members having annular coacting sealing portions disposed below and preventing the ingress of foreign matter between said members, the inner member being removable from the table upon removing, the outer member, to thereby permit access to the holddown bearing.

SERGIUS C. FIETINGHOFF. AUGUST R. MAIER. CYRIL F. VAN LOOZEN. 

